At stake in this election:

Description of government structure:

Assembly: Armenia has a unicameral National Assembly (Azgayin Zhoghov) with 131 seats.

Description of electoral system:

The President is elected by majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.

The Prime Minister is appointed by the president with the approval of the parliament.

In the National Assembly (Azgayin Zhoghov), 75 members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms and 56 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.

Main Candidates in the Second Round of the Presidential race:

Robert KOCHARIAN

Party: Independent

Karen DEMIRCHIAN

Party: Civil Initiative (CI)

Last Presidential election:

The last presidential election was held on September 22, 1996. Levon TER-PETROSIAN received 51.75% of the vote and thus defeated Vazgen MANUKIAN, his closest competitor with 41.29% of the vote.

Population and number of registered voters:

Population: 3,433,629 (July 1997 est.)

Registered Voters: 2,293,636 ( 1998 )

Gender Data:

· Female Population:1,652,676 (1998)

· Is Armenia a signatory to CEDAW: No

· Has Armenia ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (13 September 1993)

· Gender Quota: Yes

· Female candidates in this election: No

· Number of Female Parliamentarians: 12 (1995)

· Human Development Index Position: 85 (2014)

· Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: High (2014)